HarrieH's classic track bike projectA track bike has the beauty of simplicity. No distraction of cables, bottle holders, pumps and other accessories. Just a frame, fork, drivetrain, steering components and something to sit on will do the job on a track.
Some parts I already have for decades, others I have to collect. It's fun to look for the right components, to get them, build up the bike and, of course, ride it on the velodrome.
Oh, besides track, lots of (off-)road stuff as well.

Not exactly "vintage" but it's possible to ride on the track. With two 24" and two 26" road bikes, my kids have some nice tools to ride on in future. But I thought that it would be a nice challange to convert one 26" into a real track bike. The frame has horizontal dropouts, so it's possible to tension the chain. For a geared bike you need a certain minimum chain stay length, so the clearances are not as tight as you would expect from a nice road or track bike. Anyway, with the correct components, it will make a very nice track bike.

To be done:Cut internal thread into front axle and fix with bolts and flat washersCut steerer to length (will wait until bike will be ridden)Add chain tugsFind out correct gear ratio and adjust chain length. Now it's 1/2 link too short. Sprockets available, may have to buy extra chain ring.

I'm making some good progress on the newest track project. It started at the beginning of this year, when I had the chance to purchase a NOS set of Campagnolo track wheels. Suddenly the seller decided to cancel the deal, so the project was on hold.The project got some direction when I acquired a 3ttt Pista track stem. 3ttt bars are not that hard to find. I have a "Gimondi" on my other track bike and a friend sent me a message that he would reserve one for me.It took me a while, but I succeeded to find a very nice 3ttt SL saddle via Ebay. A bit later I got myself a 3ttt Record seat post, also via Ebay. Last Saturday I picked up the 2 3ttt Competizione Gimondi bars, so the whole 3ttt set is complete now. Okay, I could use a pair of 3ttt bar end plugs and some bars tape. I'll look for that once there's a frame. At least, the colour of the tape has to match the frame. I may have some bar end plugs, perhaps not from old vintage and with the correct logo. And it's questionable if these accessories should be considered as real 3ttt products.Funny enough, the seller of the Campagnolo wheels re-listed the wheel and with some dirty cheating and bidding, I managed to get the wheels that I missed earlier this year.Another good friend had a Campagnolo Pista 165 mm, BCD 144 mm crank set going spare, Marktplaats provided chain ring bolts and Ebay a 53T chain ring. So, basically, I completed my next track bike. All I need is a nice frame set.I'm looking for a very small, steel frame set, ideally Italian, Columbus, but I leave all options open. 49, 50, 51 cm frame size would be perfect, but anything up to 59 cm centre to top could be possible. Italian, English, Dutch, GDR, USSR, Japanese, you name it. As long as it is nice, good and affordable.For the remaining components? Well, I do have Campagnolo Record 1" threaded headsets and I may still have a BSC threaded Campagnolo Record Pista BB set. I will not source other track pedals, because the ones from my Alan are perfect and can easily be swapped from one to the other bike. Just in case there's a good occasion to buy another pair, I may consider that. No hurry though. I'd better find some good shoes first, otherwise I'm not going to ride with toe clips and straps again. Tubulars? Oh, I have some nice tubulars left and whenever I see some nice ones, I will not hesitate to buy them. Always come in handy.

Got these 3ttt bars with Gimondi bars from a friend, widths 43 and 44 cm outside to outside. The engraved logos match the 3ttt stem, seat post and saddle. On one of my other track bars, I have another pair of Gimondi bars, but a newer edition with a lasered logo and that corresponds with the laser etched logo on the stem on that bike. The Gimondi bars are not as deep as the Pista bars, but the bends are very nice for a track bike. Especially together with the 58° stem, the Pista bars would be not very practical and are the Gimondi bars the better solution.3ttt Gimondi is the equivalent of Cinelli's Criterium, Nr. 65. We used to call these bars "half road, half track".

In my opinion not a very nice seat post, but it's a wonderful combination with the 3ttt stem, bars and saddle. The seat post was not that easy to find and buy, because they are not offered very frequently and most times shortened or damaged badly.I found these in Germany and there are very light screatches on the post, but I can live with that. It's a 27.2 mm post and that will fit most frames (most popular Reynolds and Columbus tube sets), but it's a bit of a gamble, since I still don't have a frame for it. May need an inverse shim. This must be a "Record" post, because the flutes and the head are polished.The Competizione post is the same, just flutes and top section anodized in gun metal blue grey.